D-backs rookie Chase Anderson turns in stellar MLB debut

By Arizona Sports | May 11, 2014 at 10:13 pmUPDATED: May 11, 2014 at 11:23 pm

Heading into Sunday, the person who likely had the most dominant pitching stats in all of baseball wasn’t a household name.

It wasn’t Justin Verlander or Clayton Kershaw or Jose Fernandez or Jon Lester.

Instead, it was Chase Anderson — a 26-year-old starter on the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Double-A affiliate in Mobile, Ala., where he had posted a 0.69 ERA with 38 strikeouts and a WHIP of less than 1.0 over 39 innings.

So it made sense that the D-backs and their ailing starting rotation turned to Anderson when they needed a start, and the right-hander continued to display the ability that gathered those video game-like stats.

Anderson tossed 5.1 innings in his MLB debut on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox, earning the win after allowing just two hits and a run while striking out six. Anderson threw just 74 pitches before yielding to the D-backs’ bullpen after allowing a solo home run and four-pitch walk in the sixth inning.

Anderson showed three above-average pitches, with his fastball reaching 94 mph to go along with a solid changeup and curveball as he made the start in place of the recently demoted Mike Bolsinger.